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Energy index falls 4.8%
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BHP drags with 4.8% drop
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IPH, Latitude Group report cyber attacks
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February Australia employment data strong
(Updates to close)
By Savyata Mishra
March 16 (Reuters) - Australian shares closed lower on
Thursday, led by energy and mining stocks on tumbling commodity
prices, as investors across the globe dumped equities after
fresh troubles at Swiss lender Credit Suisse intensified fears
of a banking sector turmoil.
The S&P/ASX 200 index finished 1.5% lower at
6,965.50, declining for the fourth session in five.
Risk sentiment soured as Credit Suisse troubles stoked more
concerns about the banking sector after the collapse of three
U.S. banks in the space of a week.
Market participants scrambled to weigh the impact of the
latest developments ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve policy
meeting next week, which will set the tone for the Reserve Bank
of Australia's (RBA) rates decision in April.
Analysts at UBS said the strong Australian employment data
for February supported a case for rate hikes, but household cash
flow crunch would lead the RBA to pause further tightening.
Australian energy stocks led losses on the benchmark
with a 4.8% dive after crude oil prices slumped overnight. Woodside Petroleum slid 5.3% and Worley dropped 5.8%.
Miners followed with a 3.4% fall. Mining giants BHP
Group , Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals lost between 3.5% and 4.6%.
BHP is potentially facing a 36 billion pound ($44 billion)
lawsuit in London over Brazil's worst environmental disaster
after the number of claimants more than tripled, their lawyers
said on Wednesday.
Financials shed 1.4%, with the "Big Four" banks down
between 0.4% and 2.3%.
Morgan Stanley analysts said there were modest direct risks
to major Australian lenders from the Silicon Valley Bank
fallout, but strong liquidity buffers would insulate the blow.
Gold stocks eked out a 0.5% gain amid increased
demand for safe-haven bullion.
Among individual stocks, intellectual property services
provider IPH Ltd slumped more than 10% after reporting
a data breach in a portion of its IT systems.
Digital payments and lending firm Latitude Group Holdings also disclosed a cyber attack in which personal
information of around 328,000 customers was stolen.
Across the Tasman sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50
index gained 0.7% to 11,699.02.
(Reporting by Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by
Subhranshu Sahu)
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